Means for supporting trousers and such like



April 8, 1947. E. A. JACKSON 2,418,772

MEANS FOR SUPPORTING TROUSERS AND SUCH LIKE Filed Sept.. 30, 1.944

Patented Apr. 8, 1947 MEANS FOR SUPPORTING TROUSERS AND SUCH LIKE.

Ernest Arthur Jackson, Manchester, England, as;-

signor to Kay & Lee Limited, Manchester, England, a British company Applicationzseptember 30, 1944, SerialrNo; 556-,5li1` In. Great Britain October 19,1943.

Y 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in means. for supporting trousers, knickerbockers,

and like garments, about the. waist of a wearer, suchv supporting means being ofthe kind which are. embodied. in the garments themselves.

The objectV ofthe presentY invention is to prov vide. improved means of the kind referred to which are of a simple nature.

According to one aspect of the invention means for supporting a pair of trousers, knickerbockers or other like garment about the waistof a wearerv is embodied in the garment itself. and comprises a tunnel or tube-like passageway formed about, coinciding or in connection with the waistband for. the purpose of enclosing a belt or band, adjustable in. length,r madeV wholly or. in part of elastic material and adapted to besecured by its endsto. thefront o-r dividedportion of the waisttting part of the garment, the said tunnel orv tube-likepassageway being formed with a gap or aperture opening to the inside or outside. of the garment for the purpose of providing access to the means. for adjusting the length of the belt when the same is in position.

Accordingl to another aspect ofthe invention,

the improved means for. supporting garments of the kind referred to comp-rises a band or belt, adjustable in length, made wholly or in part of elastic material andv secured or adapted to vbe secured' at its ends to the front. or to each side of the divided portion of. the waist fitting part of the garment.

Preferably the gap or aperture referred to in the rst-ment-ionedaspect of theV invention opens to the inside of the garmentV and is formed by spaced vertical pleats in the material constituting the tunnel or tube-like passageway the underlying folds of which are' slit for the passage of the belt or band which, when in position, is thus.

exposed between the pleats andl isso arranged in relation to the garment that itsmeans of adjustment liesaccessibly between the said pleats in the. gap or aperture thereby formed.

One-example of the application. of the present invention to garments ofthe above kind is hereinafter described? with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows in diagrammatic fashion the opened out top of a pair of trousers with the hereinafter described means for supporting same.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the central back part of the tunnel, etc., as viewed from the inside of the waistband and shows the ends of the adjustable elastic belt or band which is located in said tunnel.

2. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic sectional view taken` on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2.'

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan of the tunnelledwaist` band, the adjustable belt or band.

y Fig. 5 is a broken View of the'front oriiy part of the trousers-showing where the forward ends of the aforesaid adjustable belt or bandiis stitched or' xe'd- Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic rear View of" the tunnelled waistband and shows the means for ad; justingthe belt orbancl.

Referring to the drawings, afabric tunnel* orl tube-like passageway a is formed about or coinciding with or constitutingA the waistband: ofthe trousers.. This tunnel a is'cl'osed at the' front at each end' by lines of stitching d which pass through the' upper parts ofthe halves of the knownbutton. secured fly as is shown by Fig. 1, Fig; 4 and Fig. 5. As shown inthe drawing, the material of. the trousers a1 andan inner length of lining material a2 constitute what may be termed one Wall of the tunnel or passageway a,

'the oppositewall of said passagewaybeing'formed' by another length of liningV material a3 andv a length of material a4 separatelyl stitched toY a?" near its lower edge, the said material a4` being preferably of such kind as. to present a nished or matching appearance at the waistband of the garment. The three pieces of material a2, a3r and a4 are sewn together and to the material a1 of the trousers at'suitabledistances from their edges top and bottom to constitute the, passagewayV as indicated. at a9 and al", Fig. 1. The said passageway has a gap or aperture, providing means for access to the belt.. adjustment hereinafter described,` on the inside midway orv about the lcentre of the back which advantageously remains as an opening or gap over a small area; or a movable covering or closable flap may be provided capable ofbeing opened and.closed,.but. the small opening or gapkdescribed is the preferredl arrangement and this is illustrated'by Figs. l, 2 and 3;

As very` clearly shown by Figs..2. and' 3 thematerial a4 and its lining strip c?" are so folded as to. produce pockets a5r with the rear wall having front. pleats a6 whichare thev vertical boundaries of the access. aperture al. Thus, theaperture al may be regarded as being produced. byA box pl'eating the front wall of' the tunnel or tube-like passageway. v

The pleats a6 can open out to give a little more room for access to the adjusting means by omitting stitching at the bottom of each pleat fold as is suggested at Fig. 2.

The underlying folds ofthe pleats as forming the pockets a5 in the rear of the pleats (that is the material a4 and its lining a3) are slit or cut vertically to a sufficient extent at two points a8.

As already explained the tunnel is made good by stitching the pieces of material a2, a3 and a4 along or near top and bottom, and lines of stitching a9 and a1 are shown, the stitching uniting the several` fabric and lining elements and producing the complete passageway a associated with the inside of the waistband of the trousers.

Within the passageway is located a belt or band of broad elastic webbing b, the ends of which are reinforced by or bound with fabric in known manner. The front ends of said webbing or band are stitched or permanently fastened at b1 to the already mentioned front or closed ends of the tunnel a. that is, adjacent the top of each half of the fly.

The said belt or band is formed by two lengths of` elastc'webbing secured together so as to be adiustable as regards their combined length, and which nass freely rearwards on either hand inside each part of the passageway a to the central part of the back of the waistband, where there is provided. the before-mentioned gap or aperture d".

This gap or aperture gives access to the rear and overlapping. and adjustably connected ends of the elastic webbing, or the reinforcing fabric lengthsapnlied thereto. It is at this opening at the back of the tunnel in the waistband that the adiustment of the combined length of the two partsof the belt or band is made.

The adjustment of the vbelt or band is provided for by` simple adjustable means comprisingbuttons c and button holes c1 on and in the overlapping connected ends thereof. as illustrated in the drawings, this being a simple and convenient arrangement for reducing or extending the eiective length for the time being of the two lengths of elastic webbing which constitute the belt or band and which have their other ends as already described stitched or permanently secured near the top of each half of the iiy or divided portion of the garment. When adjustment or setting ofv the elastic webbing or resilient bands is made at the opening in the tunnel at the` back of the waistband, the same are set to something short of the waistV measurement, as for instance 1 inch or more. i Y When the trousers are put on, and the top button or fastener at the top of the iiy is engaged then the waistband clings to the waist due to harnessed elasticity or resilience of said envelopedand adjusted elastic webbing.

The. arrangement describedis very neat and very simple and does not show or expose any material parts `when the garment is worn.

-It is preferable to use an elastic webbing or other resilient band contrivance which practically encircles'the waist. This allows for the stretch and pressure to'be distributed, around the waist line and rreduces Ycreasing when the garment is inr use. As willbe readily seen, because the belt orband is secured only at the front, the rear part of a garment fabricated according to the present invention is capable of yieldingor giving when the wearer bends forward as in sitting down so that there is n o uncomfortable stress in the region of the abdomen.

If desired, a part or section only of the belt or band may be made of elastic material.

In applying the invention to ladies skirts, which are intended to be included in the expression or other like garment herein used and which usually have a divided portion formed at the side thereof, the ends of the elastic belt or band may be secured to the skirt at the front, one end, viz:

the end on the divided side of skirt, being detachably so secured as by a button and button-hole.

I declare that what I claim is:

1. Means for supporting a garment about the waist of a wearer, comprising a tunnel-like passageway formed in the waist band of said garment, an elastic belt disposed within said passageway, the said belt being attached by its ends to the front portion of the waist-iitting part of the garment, spaced vertical pleats in the material constituting the said passageway, the underlying folds of said pleats being provided with slits for the passage of the belt, and length adjusting means carried by said belt and disposed within the space formed between the said pleats.

2. Means for supporting a garment about the waist of a wearer comprising a tunnel-like passageway in the garment in the location of a waist band, spaced and oppositely directed transverse pleats in the lengthy of said tunnel-like passageway, a belt in said passageway secured therein at points spaced away from the pleats to provide for relative movement of the belt within the portions of the tunnel between such points of attachment and the adjacent pleats, said pleats having apertures for the passage of the belt out of the tunnel and across the space between said pleats, and length-adjusting means for the belt located between said pleats.

3. Means for supporting a garment about the waist of a wearer comprising a tunnel-like passageway in the garment in the location of a waist band, spaced and oppositely directed transverse pleats in the length of said tunnel-like passageway at the back of the waist, a belt in said passageway secured therein at points spaced away from the pleats to provide for relative movement of the belt within the portions of the tunnel between such points of attachment and the adjacent pleats, said pleats having apertures for the passage of the belt out of the tunnel and across the space between said pleats, and length-adjusting means for the belt located between said pleats.

ERNEST ARTHUR JACKSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Y Name Date 829,226 Oppenheim Aug. 211906 1,156,518 Baskin Oct. 12, 1915 1,826,803 Lubell Oct. 13, 1931 1,672,017 Wright June 5, 1928 1,070,694 Keller Aug- 19, 1913 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 291,214 British May 31, 1928 

